Love Cover

Ham, the father of Canaan,

saw the nakedness of his father,

and told his two brothers outside.

Genesis 9:22

Noah, the one man God had found favor with on the earth—the one who was righteous, blameless in his time, the one who walked with God—drank of the wine and became drunk. Noah, a righteous man, stumbled in his walk.

How are we to respond when fellow believers, those credited as righteous because of their faith in Christ, stumble in their walk?

We are to respond as Shem and Japheth responded. Shem and Japheth took a garment and walked in backward and covered their father. They did not excuse what he had done, yet they did not blast it for the world to see and hear. They did not make his stumble a topic of conversation and run out to point his sin out to everyone they knew. Proverbs 17:9 says, “He who conceals a transgression seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates intimate friends.”

How many believers no longer attend church because they have been hurt by the gossip of those inside the walls? When our fellow believers stumble in their walk, we need not give the enemy any help in his condemnation and mocking whispers. We are, however, to take them in and cover them in our compassion, confront their sin in love, and help them regain their step.

We as a church have much to learn from this portion of Scripture.

We are justified by our faith in Christ, and we are sanctified and are being sanctified. We do not become immediately perfect at salvation; perfection is a process. We are saved, but we remain in this flesh, we groan in it, because we still fight its desires. Through the power of the Holy Spirit within us, we can be victorious, but still we stumble along the way, even as we grow.

When we see our brothers and sisters in Christ stumbling, we are not to finish pushing them down, but we are to grab their hands and help them steady their feet: “Strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble, and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed” (Hebrews 12:12–13). We can do this without ignoring their stumble and without broadcasting it to the world.

Oh Father,

Forgive me for the times my words have hurt instead of encouraged. Forgive me for the times that I whispered behind backs instead of confronting face-to-face with the love of Christ in order to turn one back to You. Oh Father, help me to be one who seeks love and not division. Give me the courage to confront, the compassion to conceal, and the wisdom of conviction to share the truth that will strengthen and heal.

Oh Father, the body of Christ is to build each other up, not tear each other down. Help me to be one who builds, one who strengthens, one who encourages, yet at the same time, one who does not turn a blind eye to someone who is stumbling along the way. Oh Father, Your Word says that “love covers all transgressions” (Proverbs 10:12), and my Jesus, Your love covered all my transgressions. Thank You for this amazing love. Help me to love others the way You have loved me.

My Jesus, it is in Your name I pray,

Amen.